"Tattvamasi": Thou Art That

Wherever there is smoke, there should be a source in the form of cinders and burning coal; so also 
For a running train there must be someone called a driver who is responsible for the running of that train. 
Even for the traffic lights which come up automatically, there must be a source which makes those lights function. 
While this is so, should there not be one who is responsible for all the creation we see around us.
Telugu poem

Pavitratma Swaroopas!

"Mayam atma Brahma" means that this very atma is identical with Brahman. Atma is not something which is distinct from us. This atma is present in everyone, in all living beings, and in all things. That atma is identical with Brahman and has a form which is indestructible; it is filled with shabda or sound. Om is the ekaksharam Brahma. The one single letter Om is Brahman. This has, associated with it, four aspects.

These four aspects are: the waking stage, the dreaming stage, the deep sleep stage, and the turiya stage.

The first aspect, in the waking stage, one is fully awake. The waking stage is usually accompanied by the gross phenomenon, by desires connected with the material aspects of the world. This waking stage has a gross form and is connected intimately with our desires of the material world and is promoted by the five working organs and the five sense organs which we have together with the five pranas and four other features like chitta, antahkarana and so on. These are all present in the waking stage. This stage is also referred to as Vishwa.

The dreaming stage has a subtle form. This stage is called taijasa. Whatever one has experienced when he is awake during the waking stage attaches itself in some form with the mind and continues to appear in the dreaming stage. In this stage all the 19 aspects, which we have mentioned earlier, will still appear as subtle forms with a subtle phase.

Mind, in the Manomaya Kosha and intelligence in the Pranamaya Kosha, play an important role. Both the waking stage and the dreaming stage are somewhat on the same footing and are equally important. The other two stages are quite different, the difference being one of essence. The third one is the deep sleep stage. This is also named as prajna. In this stage of deep sleep, there is no connection whatever either through the gross form or through the subtle form, with the material world.

Here we can take the example of the reflection of the sky in a pot. Once that pot is removed, the reflection disappears, and the sky in the pot becomes identical with the original big sky. So also, in this state of deep sleep, we lose all connection with the material world, the gross and the subtle forms, and we are independent of them. In this stage of deep sleep, the 19 facets, which have been mentioned, are neither in the material form nor are they in the subtle form. The deep sleep state is quite distinct and separated from them. In this state, various organs of the body do not function at all. This is a very surprising situation which causes us astonishment. This has also been referred to as poorna tattvam.

The next stage is called the stage of turiya. The aspects of turiya are indescribable in ordinary words by anyone. This state of turiya in its totality reflects the spirit of atma. As we cannot see our own eyes, so also atma cannot see itself. There is a small example here: if we take a doll made of salt and ask that doll to go and experience the taste of the ocean, how is that going to be possible? This salt doll will go into the ocean and will get lost by dissolution and merger. As in that analogy, if the jiva is looking for the atma, he will completely merge into atma when he gets close to it. Thereafter it will not be possible for the jiva to separate himself from the atma. That aspect is described as omnipresence. This is also another feature of atma and it is able to be present in all the living beings. This state has been described by calling prajñanam Brahma. It has also been described as "Tattvamasi" or thou art that. It is also "Ayam atma Brahma" or atma is Brahman. This is the same as saying "Aham Brahmasmi" or I am Brahman. These are the four mahavakyas which constitute the spirit of the Vedas.

There is a small example for this. From a big hill, we pick out one rock, and an artisan chisels out of this uncut rock a beautiful figure of Krishna. After some effort, he will produce out of this rock a very beautiful figure of Krishna. Choosing a proper and auspicious time, he will take this figure of Krishna and install it on a pedestal in the temple and will go on worshipping it. Here we notice that a part of the rock has been taken out and has been installed in the temple and is being worshipped by various people. The little remnants, the pieces of stone which are left in the rock after chiseling the figure of Krishna, are left in the same place as the rock. No one cares for those remnant pieces of rock. Nobody worships them, and nobody thinks of those pieces as of any importance. Here, in our thought, this portion of the Krishna figure becomes one which can be worshipped as God, whereas the rest of the rock from which it has come is looked upon as useless pieces. But these pieces of stones and their background are not like that. The remnant pieces of rock will keep on proclaiming "Tattvamasi", and seem to say "that figure of Krishna which you are worshipping is me, I am that." A portion of the rock appears to us as if we can worship it, and the other portion of the rock appears to us as valueless. What is being worshipped as deity is something which has been created by you. The true form from which it has been created is the original piece of rock.

As in that analogy, what we see in this world as a form is something which has come out of the source rock. The form of Krishna in this case has been formed from a rock. But the essence, the basic substance in the formless, is the same in the source rock as in the figure. Whether you take the formless rock, the source of the idol of Krishna, or the idol itself and beat it, the kind of sound that will come out is exactly the same in both cases. So, atma which is the form of sound or shabda and the sound, the Omkara, are both one and the same. Those who propound Vedanta have been explaining this truth by saying that the combination of 'Akaara', 'Ukaara', 'Makaara' is AUM, and is nothing but Brahman. Either in the gross form or in the subtle form, or in the supreme form of the Turiya, what is contained is the same, and it is Omkara.

Vishwamitra recognized that this atma, which is identical with divinity, is present in everyone. It takes the form of prajna in the created form to establish the identity between the jivatma and Paramatma. When we look at the story of Ramayana, we find that at a certain point, Vishwamitra comes to Dasharatha and requests him to send his sons for the specific purpose of protecting his yajnas in the forest. During the journey, he taught Rama and Lakshmana two mantras, Bala and Atibala. Not only did he teach these mantras, but he also gave them all the weapons that were in his possession and taught them how to use those weapons. After giving them all this training, he took them to Mithilapura after the yajna was over. It is not as if these mantras, Bala and Atibala, have something special in them. By making appropriate changes in the Gayatri mantra, we can get these mantras.

While taking them to Mithilapura, he also undertook the task of getting Rama to remove the curse on Ahalya. After reaching Mithilapura, he gets Ramachandra to break Shiva’s Bow and marry Sita. After the marriage of Sita, Vishwamitra disappeared that very night and was not to be seen thereafter. Thus, we see that the story of Vishwamitra begins with taking Rama and Lakshmana with him and performing the marriage of Sita as the foundation for the ultimate destruction of Ravana. When he came to Dasharatha, he was in the first stage. When Vishwamitra taught the mantras Bala and Atibala to Rama and Lakshmana, he took the form of Taijasa. When he undertook to perform the marriage between Sita the Jivatma with Rama the Paramatma, he took the form of Prajna.

When we look at these three stages of Vishwamitra, we understand that no one can live without being dependent, to some extent, on the material creation around him. At that time, he is in the first stage or the waking stage, which is described as Vishwa. Later when we can acquire faith in the Divinity, then we transform into the next higher stage described as Taijasa. If we do not stop at this stage, and if we develop the next higher stage and identify ourselves with atma, that can be described as prajna. Because Vishwamitra reached this sacred stage of prajna, he could realize that Rama was the incarnation of Narayana Himself, and in that context, he was in contact with Rama. In this stage of prajna, there will be a commendable determination to fulfill a task. That determination is permanent and unwavering. In this stage, Vishwamitra developed some kind of enmity with Vashishta because Vashishta was being described as a Brahmarshi while he himself was described only as a Rajarshi. He was determined to see that he was also addressed as a Brahmarshi by Vashishta himself. Withstanding all kinds of difficulty and never wavering from his determination, Vishwamitra went into a very severe penance. He could withstand all the tests to which he was subjected by God Himself. In the end, he succeeded in being called a Brahmarshi by Vashishta himself. Because he took such a hard and difficult vow and succeeded, we call him Brahman. Thus, if we want to achieve anything, we should go into the state of an unwavering mind and a determination without swerving from the objective. Vishwamitra demonstrated such sacred truths.

Amongst the lessons which Vishwamitra gave to the world, Gayatri mantra is an important one. This mantra teaches that there is equal opportunity for spiritual achievement for all religions, for people of all countries and people of all communities and all places.

This mantra has something to do only with intelligence. It has nothing to do with religious activity. We say "Dhiyo yonah prachodayat", and this portion of Gayatri means, "Blossom my intelligence, give importance to my intelligence, remove the darkness of ignorance and let the prajna in me blossom out". It prays to the Lord who is present at all times, past, present, and future and who is present at every place, to come and burn away the darkness of ignorance and give brightness of knowledge. In man’s life, there are his childhood, his youth, and his old age. These three stages of man are not distinct and different, but they are simply changes of one and the same basic content. In childhood, there is youth, in youth there is old age. This aspect of unity can be referred to as the aspect of prajna and Vishwamitra was demonstrating this. With the help of this prajna, Vishwamitra could even create a new universe. That is referred to as Trishanku. The ability to create something totally new is an aspect of prajna.

Not fully understanding and knowing the significance of Mahavakyas from the Vedas—"Aham Brahmasmi", "Tattvamasi", "Ayam atma Brahma", "Prajñanam Brahma", we are misinterpreting them, and we are not able to derive the full benefit out of them. When we try and interpret them in as easy a manner as possible, we realize that they are only telling us what the nature of our own self is. Prajna enables you to stand out only as a witness and experience everything around you. We say, this is my hand, this is my head, this is my tongue and we begin to claim all this, but who is this claimant? For every one of these things. Veda has been telling us the answer by saying: That is you, thou art that, I am prajna, and I am Brahman; in that way, it makes you stand out as a witness and not become identical with your body or hand.

Students! There are many such sacred statements in the Vedas, but we are not making an attempt to understand these sacred statements. Prakriti, the material creation around us, is our friend. We can interpret this by saying that if we have faith, we can achieve any difficult task. For both these, our prema is the main cause. If there is prema between you and me and even if we come to blows with each other, then you will interpret that it has been for your own good; those blows have caused your blood to circulate more freely. If there is no prema, if there is no understanding between us, even if I throw a good rose flower at you, it will be misunderstood, and you will interpret it by saying that the rose has got a thorn and I have thrown the rose so that the thorn may hurt you. Here the good way in which you interpret it, or the bad way in which you interpret it, is determined mainly by the presence or absence of prema.

If you want to promote faith and confidence, you must promote prema in the first instance. The duty of every human being is to develop faith and prema, and perform one’s duty with care and responsibility. On the contrary, we are wasting our lives, filling ourselves with ignorance and not making an attempt to understand the purpose of life. In one’s own childhood, one mixes up with a number of other children and spends time playing games. When he gets into his youth, he spends his time attracted by women. In adolescence, he will spend his time trying to earn money. When he is in old age, he will begin to think of God. He keeps on saying that he has not achieved this or that and he keeps on feeling sorry. In the end, without being able to give up these desires, without knowing what his true form is, he spends his life in a wasteful manner and ends it in sorrow.

Students, to be born as a human being is not so unsacred as all that. Amongst all the things that are born, to get a human birth is very difficult. Not realizing that and acquiring bad qualities will be making our life unsacred. No life is always and at all times filled with troubles and pains. Difficulties never come one after another. The interval between one sorrow and another can be described as pleasure. Thus, pleasure is always an interval between two pains. On the contrary, we treat this period between pain and pain as a period of leisure and rest.

Truly three-fourths of our life is filled with happiness and only one-fourth is filled with pain. But we do not take our life in that manner. We think that three-fourths is filled with sorrow and one-fourth is filled with happiness, and we get vexed and disgusted with human life, and say that this human life is full of sorrow. This simply reflects man’s mind in a weak state. With a view to making such a weak mind strong enough, we have to accept the path of spirituality.

There is a small example; we eat rice. In that process, thousands of pieces of rice cooked as food are taken inside. We do not pay attention to the large number of pieces of rice that go inside. But even if there is one piece of stone, which comes into our mouth, we say that the rice is full of stones. This means that when there is pain, we give a lot of attention and spend a lot of time thinking about the pain.

We can take another example. Suppose ten years ago, one of the children got a fever and as a result of that he died. After all that time, today another child gets a fever. Looking at this child who has a fever now, we recall to our mind the fact that one other child had a fever ten years ago and died as a result of that fever. We feel sorry and add that sorrow to the present sorrow, and we become more and more sorrowful. Why are we recollecting and recalling sorrow that we experienced ten years ago? Why do we not think of the happiness and the good that we experienced in the past? We always recall the pain and the sorrow that we had experienced. At this present time of trouble, just as we remember the pain and sorrow of the past, if we can recall the pleasure and happiness of the past also, then to some extent we will be relieved of the pain at the present time. The true nature of atma should be such that we recall the happiness and pleasure that has gone by and not sorrow and pain. The reason for this is that atma has the form of ananda. Atma which is the embodiment of God is beauty and happiness.

Divyatma Swaroopas

Beauty is not present in creation, beauty is present in us, in the nature of atma. There is one example. Sita’s mind was filled with sorrow when she was in the Asokavana and Ravana tried to show her many beautiful things and attract her. However, all that beauty caused no attraction to Sita. To make Sita forget her sorrow, he created several attractive things. But on the last day, looking at a monkey who was sitting on a tree and uttering the name of Rama, Sita found great beauty and attraction and she began to enjoy the beauty of the monkey. Is a monkey beautiful at any time? But the name of Rama which was enshrined in the mind of Sita, joined with the name of Rama uttered by Hanuman, and the two together created the attraction and beauty and the beauty was not in the monkey. When there is prema, whatever we may look at, it will be beautiful and good. The young crow looks attractive to the old crow. We will be disgusted with the sight of a crow, but the mother crow will always be happy when looking at the young crow. It is only a contact with our own prema that will make us appreciate and be happy. Vishwamitra always proclaimed that these two aspects, beauty and happiness, really come out of our own mind.

In the story of Ramayana, every character, including that of the rakshasas as well as of the monkey, has been proclaiming suitable ideals to the world. After killing the rakshasas Tataki and Subahu, Maricha was allowed to go free and we must examine the inner meaning of this situation. If Maricha was also killed and was not allowed to go free, there would not have been the possibility of Ravana taking away Sita. If Ravana did not take away Sita, there would not have been the killing of Ravana himself. Thus, there is always a master plan behind every act in Ramayana.

Students, in this context, you should realize that for every act of yours, you should take great care. Shraddhavan labhate jnanam, one can get wisdom by paying sufficient attention. The letters contained in this statement should be understood carefully. To promote this kind of shraddha, we should also think of another eight-letter statement Samsayatma vinashyati, you must remove all doubts from your mind. On the one side, "Shraddhavan labhate jnanam", and on the other side "Samsayatma vinashyati", if we have these two statements as the two limits between which our stream of life should flow, we will be happy. If one has sufficient care and sufficient faith, even if he gets a tiny spark, out of that spark he can generate a huge fire. If one is not careful even if you give him big burning logs, he will push them aside; there will be no fire.

For a student who has shraddha, who has a desire to learn, even if you give one sacred sentence, it will be enough. We do not have to read many books. If we want to tell others, we have to read books. If you want to realize for yourself, even one sentence is enough. To kill others, you want swords, weapons, and guns. If you want to kill yourself, even a needle is enough. So also, if we want to realize the nature of ourselves, one sentence with prema and confidence is enough. For us to read many books, to listen to many statements made by others, and enter into argumentative conversation with each other will mean a waste of time. When you enter into such argumentative talks, the prajna in you will lose its vitality. Your steadiness also will disappear. Arguments and counterarguments will always weaken a man. To some extent, one will lose his reputation as well.

Students should quietly and silently debate within themselves and understand their own true nature.